The Perks Of Being A Book Lover Podcast

It’s officially summer. The kids are done with school and it feels like time to relax a little after a stressful spring. Wouldn’t we all like to be sitting on a beach, by a lake, or on a shaded porch reading the perfect book? But not everyone’s plans are what they once were with the uncertainty that has plagued us in 2020. Maybe our biggest escape is through the pages of a book. Our guest this wee...

Our guest this week, James Markert, is a Renaissance man. He was a tennis pro for over 20 years, a bookstore owner, a screenwriter, and the author of 5 historical fiction novels. His first novel, A White Wind Blew, focused on some local Louisville history with the story of the Waverly Hills Sanatorium, one of the largest facilities in the country for tuberculosis patients during the TB epidemic in...

When Carrie and I began recording The Perks of Being a Book Lover, we called it our half-assed idea. One year later, we are still half-assing our way through it, although we think we have learned some things and gotten more adept at using microphones, troubleshooting the recording technology, and asking interesting questions of our guests. It was a year filled with laughter, frustrations, and clim...

When I think of a greenhouse, I envision small seeds sprouting roots and then green shoots slowly rising toward the sunlight. The progress to grow may be slow at first but soon becomes rapidly transformational as the plant drinks in the nourishment of the heat, moisture, and sunlight in the greenhouse cocoon. Our guest this week, Hannah Rose Neuhauser, is the co-founder and program director of The...

We all had big plans for our quarantine free time, right? Maybe we wanted to Marie Kondo organize the whole house, learn how to make beautiful loaves of bread, or begin training for that marathon you’ve had on your bucket list. Our guest today, Robin Weiss, had a different kind of quarantine goal. She was determined to revitalize her reading life. This mother of 9 who is also a professor of public...

We probably all have memories of picking up a 25 cent postcard at a cheesy souvenir shop on a summer vacation to send to a friend or family member back home. The first postcard was invented by an Englishman in 1840 but now these iconic colorful cards have whole websites, youtube videos, and pinterest boards devoted to them with themes such as the best ways to write a meaningful message in just a f...

 There is a collective sigh of disappointment that you can hear in our hometown this week. The Kentucky Derby race is always run the first Saturday of May; except this year. I checked the weather and it looks like it will be beautiful this Saturday, 79 degrees and sunny, and there are no horses to be run. But now that you’ve had your Kentucky Derby primer from Carrie and I, we can all still celebr...

Are you nostalgic about a book you read as a kid? What book from your childhood remains vivid in your mind? Our guest today, Diane Neu, hosts a podcast that explores that very question. The podcast titled Shaped by Stories features one avid reader each episode who talks about the book from their childhood or early adolescence that made the biggest impact on them and why. Diane had been a podcast f...

With many libraries across the country having to stay closed due to the Coronavirus pandemic, patrons may have more time to discover all the resources libraries have to offer that aren’t between the four walls of a library building. While many of us may be nostalgic about those card catalogues and the check-out card pocket glued inside the back of books, libraries have become focused on informatio...

When we recorded with our guests for today’s episode over a month and a half ago, we had no idea how timely our discussion would be. Our topic today is mortality. The vast majority of people probably don’t like talking or thinking about that topic, but with Covid-19 confronting us every day, it's a subject that is certainly taking up space in our heads. But what we discovered during our discussion...

Alix Harrow is a Hugo award-winning writer of historical fantasy fiction who also happens to be a fellow Kentuckian. Her debut novel, The Ten Thousand Doors of January, has been called by Kirkus Reviews a ‘A love letter to imagination, adventure, the written word,’ and NPR books says it is one that should go on your Favorites Shelf. It has been on the Los Angeles Times Bestsellers List. It was rec...

Our guest today grew up in poverty in eastern Kentucky, but attended Yale and Harvard, received her law degree, and came back to Kentucky to work for the Legal Aid Society, helping at-risk women in her home state. Cassie Chambers has also written a memoir, called Hill Women: Finding Family and a Way Forward in the Appalachian Mountains, about life and culture in Owsley County through the lens of t...

Our guest this week, Emily McKeehan, left a job in the insurance industry to follow her dream of becoming a high school English teacher because she felt that was what she has been called to do. When she saw a Facebook article about how therapy dogs can help young elementary students with their reading, she had the crazy idea of trying them with her students at Eastern High School, which is in east...

“Wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also the love of humanity”. This quote from Hippocrates, the father of medicine, is especially true when doctors imbue their experiences into artistic pursuits like today’s guest. Kimmery Martin is an emergency room physician turned author whose medical fiction features female doctors shouldering the life and death responsibilities of their professi...

It’s the beginning of March; a time for signs of spring, shamrocks, and St. Patrick’s Day when we all feel a little Irish. Our guest today, Niamh Lutes, is a local music teacher, vocalist, and avid reader who grew up near Kilkenny, Ireland. She gives us a glimpse of a childhood in Ireland and a whole new world of Irish authors to add to our TBR. Niamh talks to us about some of the Irish folktales...

This week Carrie and I traveled to record at the Tompkins-Buchanan-Rankin Mansion, which is a Victorian era mansion built in 1871, with 12-foot ceilings, hand-carved wood balusters, and intricately designed colorful wallpapers. It has been preserved and enveloped by the campus of Spalding University and is the location of their School of Creative and Professional Writing and home base for today’s...

Our guests today are members of a group they comicly refer to as a “literary gang”, a book club called The Monstrous Regiment, a name based on a book by author Terry Pratchett that features a feminist manifesto. Hannah Zimmerman and Amelia Reesor started the group 3 ½ years ago with a focus on female-centric books, although as you will soon realize, every rule is meant to be broken in this high en...

Our guest this week, Robert Eric Shoemaker, likes art that defies categorization. He is drawn to literary experiences that he would describe as “all kinds of crazy”. He is a poet, playwright, and translator who is the artistic director of Poetry Is: A Sound Experience, a collaboration between musicians and poets to create an event where the audience interacts with the performance in a way that per...

Our guest this week, Anne Bogel, is a fellow Kentuckian, as well as the person thousands of readers turn to for new book recommendations with both her popular book and lifestyle blog, Modern Mrs. Darcy and on her podcast, What Should I Read Next. On her blog, you can sign up for book journaling classes, be part of a monthly online book club or read lifestyle articles like her tips for cozy sweater...

There is a saying, “If you want a happy ending, read a cookbook”. Our guest, Laura Lucchese, is in a book club that always ends well because her group reads and then produces a group meal from cookbooks. James Beard, the great culinary expert said, food is our common ground, a universal experience. In our mind, to bring books and food together is a match made in heaven. Laura tells us how many coo...

Our guest today is what Mr. Rogers would call a “helper”. I first saw William Sutton on Louisville MetroTV, where he was interviewed about his work with children and it was obvious that he was something special. William works in the children’s department of the Portland branch of the Louisville Free Public Library system. Portland is one of the largest neighborhoods in Louisville and one that has...

This is a rebroadcast of an interview we did in late October with Michael Drury,  the artistic director of a Pandora Productions. I thought this would be a great time to rebroadcast because Pandora Productions has a new musical currently on the stage called Choir Boy that will be performed until January 25.  This interview had an impact on me because it inspired me to see their show, Fun Home, whi...

We are so excited to introduce you to our guest today, Rheonna Nicole, a spoken word artist and poet. 4 years ago she started an all female poetry slam In Louisville KY called Lipstick Wars. She started in a small theater that holds 600. That filled up and the next year she filled another theater that held 1200. This year Lipstick Wars is being held in Whitney Hall at the Kentucky Center for the A...

Today we talk with guest, Amanda Ciejko, the creator behind the book blog, The Lexington Bookie. She works with horses as part of her day job but being a voracious reader is her hobby.  She even has the horses listening to her audiobooks. Amanda shares with us how a New Year's resolution helped her create her blog, why sometimes she needs a recovery period after finishing a particularly wonderful...

As this is our last episode for the season and we are in the middle of the holidays, we wanted to give you a feel good show. Today we are talking Little Free Libraries. Have you seen the cute little boxes of all colors and sizes on posts where you just open the door and you can take a book? Is there one in your neighborhood? The Little Free Library national movement is 10 years old this year and w...